Basil al-Sayed

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Al-Sayed, a videographer who documented clashes in Homs, died in an improvised hospital from a gunshot wound suffered five days earlier at a checkpoint in the Baba Amr neighborhood, according to news reports and a prominent activist interviewed by CPJ. Al-Sayed was shot in the head by security forces, news accounts said, citing local activists and relatives.

The
24-year-old regularly filmed unrest in Homs, including instances of security
forces opening fire on demonstrators, Rami Jarrah, an exiled Syrian activist,
told CPJ. Al-Sayed also interviewed Syrians about the
political and economic implications of the country's turmoil. His footage appeared
on the websites of citizen news organizations that published thousands of videos
documenting the uprising. Jarrah said much of the footage from Baba Amr was taken
by al-Sayed, who was known in Homs as "the revolution's journalist." With an effective ban
on foreign journalists and with local media neutralized, international media
relied heavily on footage shot by al-Sayed and other citizen journalists.